Language is constantly changing, evolving, embracing new words, and adapting to the needs of the speaker. There is a big discrepancy between the epic spoken narrations of Homer and the wit of Shakespearean works, as well as between the texts of the latter and the language we use today. Dutton (2003: 4) concludes that mankind has been telling jokes ab initio. Despite its long history of formation, verbal humor is observed as a means of understanding the production and comprehension of language. As noted by Pinker (1999: 48), wordplay employs the mind’s metalinguistic abilities: it is the way of using language to deconstruct and critique itself. Puns in particular bring significant changes into the study of linguistics. Whether they are enjoyed
Freud (1905) himself found much to analyze about verbal humor. He refined all humor through the never-ending war between the id, ego and superego, distinguishing verbal humor from its cousins, as a form of “judgment”, which may highlight and blend together separate ideas. Like much of his theory, Freud’s attempt to fit all comedy into a psychoanalytic frame has been heavily criticized since its publishing. Psychologists have been judging Freud's classification of humor as inappropriate and lacking empirical support.
According to Sohval (2011: 16) using the same material for several times is an essential technique for producing verbal jokes. Obviously, he refers to nothing other but a word capable of multiple interpretations.
Dienhart (1999: 81) agrees with Freud’s supposition regarding puns’ idea-linking properties. In his essay he ascribes the enjoyment drawn from jokes, particularly puns. Dienhart (1999: 134) also insists that good verbal humor renders the phonological likenesses and semantic differences between words in a text. What is more, he suggests that good comedy is a result of our comparing multiple ideas, similar to how we compare one thing to another or behave according to certain rules we
GraPHIA is a connectionist model made up of “a semantic network and a phonological network where words are represented by nodes in both the networks” (3). According to what Dienhart (1999: 93) says, verbal humor turns around a perceived ambiguity between phonology and semantics. Similarly, Srinivasan and Pariyadath (2008) highlighted three main requirements necessary for the perception of humor: “violation of a moral commitment the perceiver holds important, normalcy perceived in the situation, and simultaneity of both the normalcy and violation” (5). In their model they presume the recipient has already achieved some results in processing the joke semantically and phonologically enough to analyze the relevant words. According to this midel, the “violation” element is actually important to the perception of humor, and the “relevant” words are compared between the semantic and phonological networks. Between these two networks there are a few weighted connections, with stronger weights representing the dissemblance of the words, allowing weights to detect a meaning or sound violation. In case of detection of a violation, all possible homophones are run through an algorithm that establishes if a pun is possibly based on the homophones and have semantic
“Morreall argues that, if we want to answer these questions, we shouldn’t focus on whether the joke happens to trade on a stereotype. Instead, he takes the primary problem with some humor to be that it involves disengaging from things with which we ought to be engaged.” (Morreall, 529)
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
Thoughtful laughter is a technique used frequently in satirical pieces in literature. It allows for the audience to enjoy the wittiness of a work, later ponder on the meaning, and then apply the message to reality. Thoughtful laughter is often an inner experience that can only be achieved by authors who write meticulously. Two examples of satirical works in literature that display this concept explicitly are Voltaire’s Candide and C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. Both authors explore the depths of satire and simultaneously deliver an important message to readers through skillful technique.
There are several definitions for humor (2011), one being “[t]he ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is amusing, comical, incongruous, or absurd”. The emission of smiles or laughter does not constitute something or someone is humorous, but is often a reaction to humor also known as mirth. Over the years, there have been several articles written on the use of humor in both the medical and psychological fields. In regard to the psychological field, this body of literature most often covers the definition of therapeutic humor, the benefits of humor in therapy, the risks and limitations associated with the use of humor in therapy, and therapeutic humor techniques with the need for training. The following statements will discuss the trends in the literature regarding these areas.
• Incongruity Theory posits that comedy is derived from the perception of something incongruous violating our mental patterns and expectations. Sunny Prestatyn initially constructs an idyllic image of femininity only to undermine it through coarse sexual innuendo, offensive language, and violent imagery to comedic effect.
According to Aristotle, “Comedy can be any colloquy or performance generally intended to amuse or stimulate laughter”. In modern times, comedy can be found in different forms, such as television, movies, theatres and stand-up comedy.
Many aspects of the time period are made a mockery through puns and witty remarks from the
In conclusion, Merrill Markoe portrayed high comedy using witty humor along with situational irony in the short story “A Conversation With My Dogs”. She does this while also reaching the moral of the story, which is that with some people or animals you have to be super specific or else they won’t understand what you are trying to say. I have experienced this with some people, including my mom who is often focused on her work. The combination of witty humor and situational irony makes the audience
According to Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz, “Humor has always played an important role in argument…” (38). Humor itself is something that activates amusement or laughter. Moreover, in popular culture satire is a tool that is used to point out things in our society. Satire opens the minds of people to philosophies they might completely deny, using humor. There are many elements of satire that identify flaws within our society. A couple of satire elements that will be discussed are irony and exaggeration. In addition, a parody is used in popular culture as a way to mock or mimic situation or person.
Psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists study humor because it is a fundamental culture value, but they still can’t determine why certain things make some people laugh and others not. There are “humor quotient” tests that are designed to measure an individual’s sense of humor, but these tests are questionable. These tests aren’t accurate because almost all humor depends on cultural background knowledge and language skills. Not every person in the whole world, or even in one country share the same background knowledge and skills, therefore they cannot have the same type of humor. “The fact remains that individuals vary in their appreciation of humor” (Rappoport 9). Since humor varies from individual to individual, humor lies in the individual. How successful or funny a joke is depends on how the person receives the joke, humor cannot be measured by a statistical
In Alain de Botton’s book, Status Anxiety, he argues that the aim of humorists is not solely entertainment, but also to convey a message that isn’t always okay to state directly. There are many places where his argument can apply. Even with humor, some topics are still too controversial to joke about; However, in most cases, humor can lighten things up and make it easier to discuss topics that otherwise would not be as easy to talk about without heavy arguments. There are many cases that would make his argument true. There are many examples that support his argument, and that help to show the importance of humor in arguing, including cartoons, comics, works of literature, and also when thinking of hosts of television programs.
Humor is more than just amusing entertainment to pass the time. Though jokes and witty banter can be shallow, humor can go deeper than surface level to convey messages to audiences who would otherwise be close-minded about certain ideas. Humor is a great tool to get audiences to change the way they think, feel, and act. In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” Alexander Weinstein uses humor to criticize some of society’s faults, such as the way it has become heavily reliant on technology, racially insensitive, and judgmental. As technology advances, people are adapting and becoming more reliant upon it.
Language or the way in which words are used is one of the most important components of a comedy. Through an intelligent use of word play and the ability to add
Humor has been the source of entertainment throughout history. Today humor is practiced in movies, plays, songs, television shows and radio. Humor has brought fame and fortune to those who have mastered its power.
If there is one way to bring a smile to someone’s face, it is laughter. Funny jokes, comical stunts, sarcasm- Every person is different when it comes to what makes them laugh. Some find dry humor comical. Others think sarcasm or joke-filled ranting are the best. ‘Comedy’ is such a broad term, broad enough to allow everyone to find something they find comical. In fact, ‘comedy’ includes a specific type of drama, one where the protagonist is joyful and happy endings are expected. Comedy is like a drug; it allows you to escape reality. When we say the word ‘comedy’ in the present, we are generally referring to a type of performance which provides humor. However, in its broadest sense, comedy has only one purpose: comedy makes people smile and